As of January 1st, the doors for applying for the FAFSA are open for seniors applying to college. According to fafsa.ed.gov, the FAFSA is a way to get financial aid for students to attend college. The FAFSA is a crucial part of the college process according to fafsa.ed.gov. According to Taslim Mohamed, former MBHS student who is now in college, “It’s the easiest way for colleges to see your financial status and “can help relieve any financial burdens.”

The FAFSA doesn’t have an official deadline, which means that it varies based on the college, but Ms. Gibbons, one of the college advisors at MBHS, highly recommends students to “get it done by February 1st,” because that’s the “deadline for many colleges.”

The way the FAFSA works is, based on one’s financial information, the FAFSA will determine how much money that student should receive. Then, that student’s FAFSA information will be sent to the colleges that student has applied to so that the colleges can determine how much money the school should award the student.

Note that this application is “not as scary as people think,” said Ms. Gibbons. In order to complete this application smoothly, all one needs is to have “all the documents needed” as noted by Mohamed.

Ms. Mottahedeh, our other college counselor, sent an email containing a FAFSA checklist providing all the things one needs to complete the FAFSA. 

The FAFSA isn’t the only way to get financial aid. If a student is planning on going to a school in NY State, then once at the end of the FAFSA application, there should be a button that says“‘Do you also want to apply for New York State Aid?’ click yes and it’ll automatically populate a lot of the information” to the TAP program, which is financial aid provided by the state, as noted by Ms.Gibbons.

Ms. Gibbons also said that, if applying to private schools, be wary that some require the CSS form. “Check the college’s you’ve applied to, to see if they require it.”